Oil Shipments By Rail Made Public In Maryland

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The Maryland Department of the Environment released records Wednesday disclosing the number of large oil shipments by rail companies in the state.

The records show CSX Transportation moves one to five trains a week through the city of Baltimore, as well as Allegany, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Frederick, Harford, Howard and Washington counties. The records also show that Norfolk Southern Railroad Company moves up to 16 trains a week through Cecil County.

The trains each transport 1 million gallons or more of Bakken crude oil.

In 2014, the U.S. Transportation Department issued an emergency order requiring railroads to inform state emergency management officials about the movement of large shipments of crude oil through their states, after a string of oil train derailments in the U.S. and Canada that resulted in intense fires.

Maryland officials wanted to release the records after a Maryland Public Information Act request was made by The Associated Press and other news organizations.

The companies sued the department last summer to stop the disclosure. They contended the information was sensitive proprietary business information, because it would enable business competitors to assess how much crude oil was purchased and shipped by rail.

Last month, a Maryland judge ruled the records were subject to disclosure.